The Iranian Police began this Saturday to persecute again women who do not cover themselves with the mandatory Islamic veil with the use of cameras to identify them, in a new step to reimpose this garment in the Islamic country.
Many Iranians have stopped wearing the Islamic veil as a form of protest and civil disobedience since the death in September of Mahsa Amini after being arrested precisely for wearing the hijab poorly.
File image of a woman without a veil, last October, on a car in a caravan of vehicles in the direction of Saqez, the hometown of Mahsa Amini.
For months the Islamic Republic focused on quelling the protests unleashed by the death of Amini and now, once the revolt has been controlled, they have turned their gaze to the reimposition of the veil, mandatory in the country since 1983.
“The police plan to deal with the bad hijab in the streets, vehicles and shopping centers begins to be applied from today,” the Fars agency, linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, reported today.
The Iranian Police announced last Saturday that it would use cameras and smart tools to identify women who do not wear the hijab in public places and gave a period of one week to start applying the measure.
Identified women without a veil will receive a text message informing them of the violation. If they reoffend, charges will be filed against them and they will have to appear in court.
“Northern Iran… Rain… Life… Freedom”, three young Iranians photograph themselves without veils
“Dear lady on the day… in the place of… you committed the crime of removing your hijab in public, according to the Islamic Penal Code article 638,” reads the message that the women will receive, according to the Tasnim agency.
“This message is a preliminary warning, and if you insist on repeating the crime of not wearing a headscarf you will face the law,” the warning text message continues.
The law punishes women who do not cover themselves with a veil with fines and up to two months in prison, but the authorities are also considering other options such as the deprivation of banking services.
Women caught uncovered in their cars face possible seizure of the vehicle.
The authorities have also warned shops and restaurants not to serve uncovered women and in fact have already closed many businesses for this reason.
Unveiled women on the streets
Despite the announcement of the plan, many women walked without a hijab through the streets of the capital this Saturday, the same as in previous days.
Young or old, veiled women shopped or simply strolled along Valiasr street in the north of the capital, oblivious to warnings from the authorities.
“I don’t care, let them do what they want, I’m going to continue on my way without wearing a veil,” a Tehran neighbor told EFE, an opinion echoed by several women in the capital.
promotion of corruption
The Iranian Justice also announced this Saturday that not only women without veils will be persecuted. In addition, those who encourage women to remove the mandatory Islamic veil in public will be tried without the possibility of appeal.
“The crime of encouraging removal of the veil will be prosecuted in a criminal court, whose decision will be final and without the possibility of appeal,” the country’s deputy attorney general, Ali Jamadi, said on Saturday, according to the Mehr agency.
The prosecutor stated that calling on women to stop covering their heads with a veil is a “clear example of promoting corruption” and will be severely punished, although he did not indicate the penalties.
“The penalty for encouraging and persuading not to wear the headscarf is far greater than not wearing the hijab,” Jamadi added.
These measures are added to previous ones to reimpose the veil, a symbol of the Islamic Republic founded by Ayatollah Ruholá Khomeini.
Thus, the Ministries of Education and Health announced at the beginning of the month that they will not allow students who do not wear a headscarf to attend universities or institutes.
And in the capital’s metro they have begun to give verbal warnings to women to cover up if they want to use this public transport service.